Fire-Baptized Holiness Church

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The Fire-Baptized Holiness Church, founded 1895 in Iowa by Benjamin H. Irwin, was a predecessor body to two American Pentecostal bodies: the International Pentecostal Holiness Church and the Fire Baptized Holiness Church of God of the Americas. In 1898, the denomination had churches in eight states in the U.S. and in two Canadian provinces^[1].

The church was part of the Holiness movement and Irwin taught of a third blessing that came after salvation and sanctification. This third blessing would later be taught in the Azusa Street Revival, so that when Gaston B. Cashwell returned from Azusa Street back to the east coast holiness churches the Fire-Baptized Holiness had no need to change their theology.

In 1900, the organization almost ceased to exist when Irwin lost his faith and left the church^[2]. Joseph H. King succeeded him as general overseer. The the early Pentecostal movement was not racially segregated, and King’s assistant general overseer was William E. Fuller, Sr., an African American. After 1908, the denomination split on racial lines when Fuller left and started what would become the Fire Baptized Holiness Church of God of the Americas.

In 1911, the church merged with the Pentecostal Holiness Church and took the latter organization’s name even though the Fire-Baptized church was larger^[3]. The body resulting from the merger would later be renamed the International Pentecostal Holiness Church.

[edit] References

• ^  The Pentecostal Holiness Church [4]